If you could dive one spot, where would it be?

[scubajeff]

My wife and I just returned from the NCL Sea and had fun diving in Roatan, Cozumel, and mostly Belize. I am now trying to plan our next diving vacation for next year. My question is, if you could dive one location, where would it be (outside of Australia, can't afford that)?

Right now, I am looking at Tahiti (Bora Bora), Aruba, or Belize (again). I want to look into other locations, but I want recomendations!

[bruce-r]

Right now, I am looking at Tahiti (Bora Bora), Aruba, or Belize (again). I want to look into other locations, but I want recomendations!

 

It would depend on if you are talking a cruise, land based resort, or liveaboard.

 

For a cruise, Tahiti would be at the top of the list, Belize second, and Aruba a distant third.

 

For land based, I wouldn't put any of them at the top of my list. In the Caribbean I would pick Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, or Turks and Cacios. Cozumel is also excellent, and I would return there if I was going with my non-diving family, other wise Little Cayman would probably be my first choice for Caribbean destination. I would definitely choose Bonaire or Curacao over Aruba. Anthony's Keys Resort in Roatan would also be a good choice if traveling with kids.

 

In the Pacific, the Big Island has a lot to offer, both above and below the water. I would replace Tahiti with Fiji.

 

For Liveaboard diving, Belize does make the list, but not Tahiti or Aruba. Look at Nektoncruises.com for both the Bahamas or Belize and Aquacatcruises.com for the Bahamas. http://explorerventures.com/tcexhtml/turksindex.html for the Turks and Cacios gets excellent reviews too. But the liveaboard I would choose if money wasn't too big of an object would be http://www.cuanlaw.com in the British Virgin Islands, an especially good choice if traveling with less hard core divers or non-divers.

 

Here are the questions:

• Liveaboard?
  
• Land based resort?
  
• Cruise?
  
• Only divers or will there be a mixed group?
  
• Budget?
  

So like us know a bit more of the specifics of what you are looking for and we can help more.

[karen2cruz]

Thanks Bruce-r for your comments on this board over the years. You are so knowledgeable.

 

My husband did the liveaboard on Aquacat in the Bahamas (Exumas) this past November and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

 

Cruising, we loved the Caymans and Cozumel with St Thomas next. Looking forward to Belize in late October. Although you never know, we saw a manta ray in Barbados, and the divemaster was very excited. He has only seen two. Somebody else that had dove over 200 times said it was his first time to see a manta ray as well.

 

Bruce -Our dream is to go to the Pacific area (Tahiti or Figi) but it is so far away and expensive. Any good or bad time to be there (like avoiding Caribbean during Hurricane season)? Any hints on how to get there on a budget?

[scubajeff]

It is just my wife and I. We are both divers. So, it is just the two of us. We are looking for a land based resort. I love to dive more then anything. My wife loves to dive as well, but likes to mix it up with other things. So, we will probably dive 3 days (maybe 4) and do one night dive. other than that, we will try to do some land based things. Hope this helps. I will start looking into Fiji. Any other recomendations? We have been to Hawaii, so that is out.

[bruce-r]

Thanks Bruce-r for your comments on this board over the years. You are so knowledgeable.

 

My husband did the liveaboard on Aquacat in the Bahamas (Exumas) this past November and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

 

Cruising, we loved the Caymans and Cozumel with St Thomas next. Looking forward to Belize in late October. Although you never know, we saw a manta ray in Barbados, and the divemaster was very excited. He has only seen two. Somebody else that had dove over 200 times said it was his first time to see a manta ray as well.

 

Bruce -Our dream is to go to the Pacific area (Tahiti or Figi) but it is so far away and expensive. Any good or bad time to be there (like avoiding Caribbean during Hurricane season)? Any hints on how to get there on a budget?

Gosh, thanks for the compliment. I don't feel all that knowledgeable, I'm just sharing what I have learned during my dive travels.

 

I agree, seeing a Manta is really cool. I got to see one in Hawaii on a night dive. The thing was huge.

 

According to "the Unofficial Guide to the World's Best Diving Vacations" the best diving months are winter, which for them is June -October. The water temp. will be lower but it should be less rainy then with better vis. I'd just love to go there. Fiji is described as the soft coral capital of the world. The soft corals are the more colorful corals. There are also clown fish. I'd just love to photograph Nemo in person. I have seen some pretty good package prices for Fiji that depart from LAX. Air Pacific is their national carrier, so I'd check their website to start. Otherwise I'd look to a dive travel agency to see what they offered.

[bruce-r]

It is just my wife and I. We are both divers. So, it is just the two of us. We are looking for a land based resort. I love to dive more then anything. My wife loves to dive as well, but likes to mix it up with other things. So, we will probably dive 3 days (maybe 4) and do one night dive. other than that, we will try to do some land based things. Hope this helps. I will start looking into Fiji. Any other recomendations? We have been to Hawaii, so that is out.

 

I think that traveling from the midwest, Curacao would be a nice easy place to visit. The Marriot there is very nice and their on site dive op is decent. There is some above water stuff to do/see and while the diving might not be quite as good as Bonaire, it is better than Aruba.

 

Cozumel is also a great choice. The diving is really good, there are plenty of things to do topside, and it is usually a good value. There are some really nice all inclusive resorts with nice beaches. Some that visit Cozumel to dive prefer to stay in/near town to enjoy something else that divers really like, eating. There are quite a number of good restaurants there and it is fun to try a different one each night. Even if you do end up staying at and all inclusive, I'd still try to eat in town once of twice. Casa Mexicana gets good reviews for an in town hotel. The near town resort, El Presidenté is probably the nicest resort on the island and it isn't all inclusive. Just a bit further south is the Fiesta Americana dive resort. We stayed there in December and really enjoyed it. They offer an optional all inclusive package which we chose. I felt that the whole thing was a good value for what you got and I would happily return there. I didn't get to shore dive there, but the snorkeling was worth the effort and you can rent tanks and weights from the on site dive op, Divehouse. Further south are the sister Occidental properties, the Allegro and the Grand. Both are supposed to be a step up from the FA, the Grand being the nicest AI on the island, followed by the Allegro.

 

For Roatan, I have read some reports from people that are die-hard fans of Coco view resort. You might want to look at that too.

 

I really would like to dive in Fiji and since I live on the West coast, the flight times wouldn't be too bad. I don't know how long they would be from OH. You would probably have to connect in LAX, and then it would be probably another 10 hours in the air.

 

I know that none of you are interested in diving in water that is 45? f, but that is just what I'm looking forward to doing later this month in British Columbia. I'm going to Quadra island and staying at Abyssal Dive lodge for 4 days. I'm really looking forward to it too. I'm going to see some of these:

 

[Hilary]

Anywhere except the GBR for me would be Truk Lagoon and a liveaboard on the Odyssey. However, we're not talking about me, so here are a few thoughts:

 

Bonaire has fabulous diving, as does Roatan, but not sure the "other" activities for your wife would be good enough since both can be very focused on diving. Also, if you only dove Belize and Cozumel once on your cruise, you might want to put both on your list for a longer vacation and more diving. There is a lot to dive in both locations and one day simply would do neither justice.

 

I'd also suggest you consider a week in the Florida Keys. The diving is wonderful, the Keys are a fun place to spend time, and both Miami and Key West are easy to reach by car. Plus South Florida has oodles of things to do day and night.

 

Bruce-r...are you doing the BC wreck trip with Thunder Reef?? Your trip sounds awfully familiar, though I'm not going.

[bruce-r]

Anywhere except the GBR for me would be Truk Lagoon and a liveaboard on the Odyssey.

That would be a great trip too.

 

Bruce-r...are you doing the BC wreck trip with Thunder Reef?? Your trip sounds awfully familiar, though I'm not going.

No, I'm going with a group from the scubadiving.com message board. I don't think there are any wrecks near Quadra Island, they are down a Nanaimo, which just got a new wreck this past weekend.

[JOE I]

Fiji, Tahiti, and Truk sound fabulous but my wallet can't do that! I had some friends who did Truk last year and loved it.Anyone ever think about our little secret here in the Carolina's , Morehead City? Many divers think that Morehead is the second best wreck diving location in the world, next to Truk.I often dive with George Purifoy (Olympus Dive Center) and Bobby Cox (Diver Down).The Gulf Stream is about 20 miles off shore so you get warm water May through October and usually good visability, sometimes 100 foot or better.Most of the wrecks are World War Two U-Boat casualties and we even have the U-352 if you want to see a ghostly U-Boat.Most of the better wrecks are deep (80-140 feet) so you need to be at least Advanced and Deep certified and have some ocean and boat diving experience.There are also in shore wrecks in 40-60 foot range but the vis is not as good. These waters are also the breeding grounds for the Atlantic Sand Tiger Shark for those of you who like to play with the big boys. Sand Tigers look ferocious but they usually are very docile as long as you respect them. I counted 39 large Sharks on the Papoose last June.Most people are not aware of the major U-Boat war that happened out here in early World War Two-the government kept it quite because we were getting our butt kicked right off shore.The history of these wrecks amazes me and makes me respect the young American merchant sailors and German U-Boat men who fought and died out there! For top side fun, history and great uncrowded beaches abound. Beaufort and New Bern are vey historic.Atlantic Beach is nice and has Civil War Fort Macon.Cape Lookout is a must see if you like deserted National Sea Shore and lighthouses.Great seafood restaurants are everywhere.Best of all, this is all to be found in North Carolina--so close to home!Check out Olympus Dive Center or Diver Down's websites for more information.If you love wrecks and sharks, you will love Morehead.Just be careful and stay within your training limits so you dont add to the ghost on eternal patrol out there!!!!

 

Joe

[SandDollar Laura]

Maybe a little exotic on the pocketbook, but a friend of mine just showed me some amazing photos of YAP, both above and below the water. What an amazing place, and the culture, etc!.

 

After that I would have to go Truk. And then for cruising, well it would have to be Cozumel. I was torn between us, Belize and Cayman, but we haven't been whacked with any tropical nasties lately!

[scubajeff]

Joe I,

 

I was just talking to someone else about Morehead. I hope to come out there for a long weekend and do some diving. I checked out the dive ops you recommended and it looks great. What are the water temps like there and when would you say is the best time to go?

[JOE I]

Jeff,

 

Morehead is diveable year round as the water in the Gulf Stream never gets much below 65 degrees even in the dead of winter.Of course you maybe changing out of your wetsuit in a snow storm off shore! If I had a drive from Ohio, I would porobably look at May, June, or early July. Most of our Hurricanes always come in late August through early October.The best wrecks are 20 to 30 miles off shore so it is always possible to get "blown out" and the dives be cancelled, but it is much less likely in early summer.I have been lucky so far and never "blown out" but it does happen.Water temps in the summer will be 72 to 82 degrees so I normally just wear my polartech skin.You will want full body coverage and gloves so you dont get cut on the rusting metal.The boat ride out get be very calm or like the "Perfect Storm" so I always wear the "Patch" and eat a very lite breakfast.Nine foot seas on a 40-60 foot boat can get interesting! The best wrecks are the U-352 (U-Boat), Caribe Sea (freighter-sharks), Pappoose (tanker--lots of sharks), Hutton (tanker), Naeco (tanker), Bedfordshire (armed Brithish trawler), and the Shurze (German warship).Most all of these are World War Two wrecks.For the deeper wrecks I usually dive 100's and 30 % Nitrox.I use my 80's for wrecks in the 80 feet range.Visability can be 40 to as much as 100 feet.George Purifoy (Olympus) runs a very tight operation and is very safety conscious---a good thing in my opinion.Bobby at Diver Down is less strict and you cna do your own thing (solo diving and spear fishing).That is OK if you are comfortable and have experience.Spearfishing with the Sand Tigers can get REAL interesting!!!North Carolina is great wreck diving but George wont take inexperienced divers off shore ---too many accidents recently.I stay with in the recreational limits and I dont do decompression dives, even most of my buddies do.The long boat ride in choppy water, depths of up to 140 feet,sharks, and the wide open ocean are not for beginners. I am a Dive Master with around 250 logged dives in the last 5 years.Just respect the conditions and stay within your training and you will be fine.Know where the anchor line is at all times and keep a tight watch on your air supply--it goes quick at 125 feet swimming with the sharks!!!! You might want to pick up a copy of Homer Hickam's Torpedo Junction which is an excellent book on the U-Boat war off the Outer Banks--it tells the history of alot of the wrecks.Hope this info helps and enjoy North Carolina.

 

Joe

[wystiria]

You might be surprised on the prices for tahiti. We did a group trip on the tahitian princess last october for our honeymoon (no worries we did a back to back and our 2nd sailing we were alone ) Anyway we found some fabulous rates for the Tahitian Princess. Some of our friends were able to do the whole trip for 2100$ obviously not including spend $. But that did include airfair from Hartford CT and 2 night in a hotel in LA. they also had an inside cabin.

 

So I wouldnt' rule out tahiti. I would recommend not going at the very end of oct. november since that is the begining of their rainy season. but the early octber and mid ctober were Fabulous!!! It was an amazing Trip! if anyone is interested you can e-mail me and I will share our photos on ofoto. I got some good ones of a moray eel on ym intro dive!